From the station press release: "For those fans not lucky enough to have tickets for KISS Concert 2000, KISS 108 [had] a great way for everyone to catch the show -- and more.

"KISS 108 FM...teamed up with AMFM Interactive (AMFMi) to create an amazing 12 hour, online KISS Concert experience, providing listeners with the first ever opportunity to go behind the scenes and interact with the artists...

"On Saturday June 3, from 11:00AM to 11:00PM, listeners logging on to www.KISS108.com [had] access to a behind-the-scenes live look (and listen) at KISS Concert 2000, including a Cyber Press Conference [which allowed] visitors to watch KISS Concert 2000 artist press conferences and chat live with artists including Amber, Westlife and Train, a Backstage Web Cam by Perceptual Robotics...on-demand video clips of KISS Concert 2000 performances and the "Matty in the Morning" show surprise skit, [and more].

Visit the KIIS 108 website here for photos of the event (pictured above, Taylor Hanson of the band Hanson) and archived video.




From the New York Times: "Sega Enterprises Ltd., the world's third-largest video-game console maker, said on Monday it agreed with Motorola Inc to jointly develop new cellular phones that can access the Internet.

"The two companies will develop new software allowing mobile phones to hook up to the Internet and process data at high speeds with technology now used in Sega's Dreamcast home game machines, a Sega spokesman said. The new cell phone, to be launched in the spring of 2001 in the United States and other countries, will be able to download games and video as well as other forms of data from the Internet, the spokesman said.

Read the full story here (registration required). (Why this is relevant: Internet-enabled cell phones may be an important way that consumers listen to Internet radio in the not-so-distant future.)

From Walter Mossberg's "Personal Technology" column in the Wall Street Journal: "Music is the hottest commodity in the digital world, so it's not surprising that the competition to create the best music-jukebox software has been heating up.

"I've been testing two new jukebox programs: one from the market leader in the category, RealNetworks; and one from the colossus of all software, Microsoft. I've compared these with the jukebox software I consider the gold standard, MusicMatch Jukebox, from MusicMatch...

He concludes, "So, I still like MusicMatch best, but now I also can recommend RealJukebox 2 -- provided you know how to turn off its sneaky security features and advertising..."

Read the full column in the Wall Street Journal here (subscription required -- and then, due to the way the Journal's site is designed, you'll have to do some searching to find it).

BY KURT HANSON
Later this week, we're going to conclude our series on the features that belong on the ideal radio station website. Today, we've got some more features to toss out as possibilities.

If you didn't read Wednesday's introduction to the subject, click the screenshot below to jump to that issue of RAIN. You can then use the arrow to the right of the issue to follow along with Thursday and Friday's pieces.

To contribute your suggestions and comments, use the "Quick message" form above or, to use your own e-mail software, click here.



Here are some more potential features you might want to consider for your website...


If you've got a listener who's into music visiting your site, one of the easiest things you can put up are charts.

Offer them this week's top 10, your playlist, links to trade publication charts for your format, your Memorial Day top 500 songs, the top 98 songs of 1999 (and as many years back as you care to go), and more.


Music publishers are getting pretty aggressive at shutting down sites that post song lyrics without permission of the copyright owners. Some stations link to this website; as near as I can tell, the site uses a Java applet that lets you look at the lyrics but not save them or print them or grab a screenshot of them.

This is one of the easiest and most valuable uses of a website -- a chance for listeners to instantly get a request into the studio. (No trying to get past a busy signal! No rudeness from the air personality!)

An e-mail link is good, but I think a nice easy form is even better -- your listener can just type in what he or she wants to hear and hit the "Submit" button! Better yet is if you can respond quickly and politely and in a somewhat personalized manner.


When I was young and into radio, I felt that nothing was cooler than getting a peek into a station's air studio. In its top-40 heyday, WLS/Chicago had a legendary viewing room within which listeners from across the Midwest could stand and watch their favorite WLS personalities in action. Now you can give all of your listeners this opportunity 24 hours a day by simply installing a $99 webcam into your control room. (All right, I admit it's probably a little more difficult than that...but not a lot more.)


Actually, if your station's reputation is your market's home of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, I personally don't see great value in providing general news headlines (like 'Five die in northern Italy train collision").

On the other hand, if you're a news station, this makes all the sense in the world.


Why not? It's easy to do -- just link to a partner.

It's something that's always current and fresh.

And it's something your sales department can sell.



Yes, I admit that I made fun of jock photos earlier, but profiles of each of your air personalities -- consisting of photo, bio, favorite websites, and e-mail link -- may in fact have some real value.

In this era where most jocks have unfortunately been reduced to glorified liner card readers -- yet when they're maybe one of your biggest weapons against the Internet-only jukebox-like webcasters -- this really could serve to personalize them (without using up too much valuable airtime).


Of course you should make it as easy as possible for your website visitors to send e-mail to people at your station.

This form from the WRAL/Raleigh website lets listeners send e-mail to their choice of six different departments or eight different staff members.








More to follow later this week. Contribute your suggestions using the form above -- or click here to use your own e-mail software.

June 12-14	Streaming Media East 2000, New York City
June 14-17	R&R Convention 2000, Los Angeles
June 14-17	PROMAX & BDA, New Orleans
July 13-16	Upper Midwest Conclave, Minneapolis
August 3-5	Morning Show Bootcamp, New Orleans
September 20-23	NAB Radio Show, San Francisco
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA

xxx

Try it out! Explore the wide world of Internet audio by clicking the screenshot above.

Miss an issue?
Visit the RAIN News Archives here.

If you're hiring for a position that's radio- and Internet-related this week, we'll post it -- free! Simply e-mail the job description here. If you're looking for new opportunities that involve the Internet, you can take a look at the first three available positions here.